GALLERY: Chantecler launches its new tasting menu

Chantecler announced in December that it was dropping its à-la-carte menu and expanding its popular lettuce wrap Sundays to rest of the week. Although the move helped attract diners, it also meant that chef and co-owner Jonathan Poon was no longer able to cook the sort of inventive Asian-Canadian fusion dishes that had started to attract attention—which is why, like Yours Truly and Actinolite, he followed through on plans for a new tasting menu last Friday. “I love cooking things like crispy, soggy calamari,” Poon told us, “but I also have a desire to cook food that’s more refined.” The $40, four-course menu alternates between small bites and larger composed plates (which means that about 10 dishes come out in total), and is limited to two seatings a night on Fridays and Saturdays, which must be booked at least four days in advance. For an extra $45, co-owner Jacob Wharton-Shukster will pour a series of natural wines paired with each course. Here’s what Poon served for the menu’s first run.

Chantecler chef Jonathan Poon: “I’m having a lot of fun with this menu. It allows me to be creative in a different way and allows my staff to join in as well. For Jacob, it’s an opportunity to serve some ballin’ wines that normally we couldn’t carry because they’re harder to sell on their own.”

Last bite: deep-fried, candy-coated pear. Poon tells us he and Basilio Pesce at nearby Porzia have a friendly rivalry over the two restaurants’ <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/opening-daily-dish/2013/01/25/porzia/attachment/jan13-porzia-14/">use of antique plates</a>

Intermezzo: a “noodle” salad composed of julienned celery, cucumber and East Coast baby calamari which was marinated in sesame oil and torched. The whole dish was topped with a slightly spicy soy gelée